Cusco, in the highlands of Peru, not only possesses beautiful Andean landscapes. The high rainforest –also known as forest brow– is a natural region that connects the mountains with the Amazon with humid and warm forests of heavy vegetation. That exuberance is also part of Cusco’s geography, a less known one, still inscrutable. Such is the area that surrounds towns like Quincemil, four hours from the Incan city.
Over the years, the coming generations left the field for the city. Eventually, Manire became a shared memory, part of a founding narrative. With the 2010 opening of the inter-oceanic road that unites Peru and Brazil –and shortens and eases the arrival to Quincemil–, a new interest arose for reconnecting with this land. It happened to Yerko Zlatar, great-grandson of the Croatian settlers: the Peruvian designer and artist, co-director of the interiors and object design and branding studio, Puna –along with Mariana Otero–, saw the possibility of creating a very personal project.
The house was always intended to be shared with people in search of a unique experience. A stay for adventure or to disconnect, is how Mariana and Yerko define it. The road from Cusco to Quincemil has several touristic stops that are worth it –like the Barroque churches route, the Pre-Hispanic sites of Piquillacta and Tipón, and picturesque towns like Saylla and Oropesa–; once in Casa Manire, activities are determined by the mood of the day.
With more than a decade since they founded their studio, Mariana Otero and Yerko Zlatar started to feel a certain monotony in residential interior design; in gastronomy and hospitality projects, however, they’ve found daring concepts and more authentic interiors. They picture receiving biologists and groups interested in nature at Casa Manire; their first resident was music and producer King Ghost (César Milan), who records plants vibrations to transform them into musical pieces. Currently, he is already working on a project named Manire Sounds.
